Mine Forever
by eiahmon
Summary: Lords of Shadow Continuity. Alone in his castle, Dracul finds comfort in an unexpected place.


**A/N: You can thank one of my readers, TatteredSeraph, for this one. She linked me to a vid of Karliene's cover of "Love Song For a Vampire", and while listening, I pictured Dracul and Marie slow waltzing through the castle ballroom. For extra emotional punch, listen to that song while reading.**

 **OOOOOO**

The castle was quiet. The night's battles had ended with his minoins' bloodlust sated and his own anger settled temporarily. It would be back; it always came back. He seemed unable to escape his rage, no matter how hard he tried, and truthfully, he wasn't sure if he wanted to. It was all he had to cling to anymore.

Dracul ignored the sounds of his booted feet against the stone floor under him as he walked the empty halls of the castle. Moonlight shone through large windows and cracks and holes in the roof, and candlelight flickered against the walls and floor as he went. His footfalls were the only sound he could hear, not even the various creatures that also called the castle home fell on his ears. He was alone. Empty. Cold. Abandoned by God. Forsaken by the rest of the world.

The corridor opened into the large circular space that was the ballroom. He paused in the doorway and looked around, even though he had seen this same room thousands of times. Silver light poured through windows and down onto the patterned floor as multiple candles stacked against the walls cast a faint glow. The chandeliers that hung from the high ceiling were dark as always.

The stairs intended to allow dancers to make a grand entrance caught the trailing edge of his coat as he went down them. When had this room last seen a dance? Casting his eyes about the waterfall that came through a grate on the wall on his right, the massive statue of some kind of bird that loomed over the room, and the three crumbling balconies meant for watching the dancers below, he thought he could almost see the swirling couples as they spun across the floor as music played by a small group in the far corner filled the space. The women would be wearing elaborate dressed made of brightly colored materials, and their eyes would be filled with laughter as they were led around by their partners. He could feel their footsteps on the floor, and for a moment, he heard the music and felt them brushing past him.

He closed his eyes and turned his head, banishing the image, and when he looked again after a minute, the ballroom was vacant aside from him. Empty. Dark, Desolate. He barely noticed his hands coming up to hold onto his upper arms as he stepped off the stairs and onto the dance floor proper. The ballroom was a perfect mirror of his own existence, and the thought made his already cold heart chill further.

Just a little warmth. Just a little light. It was all he craved. Something to ease the burning cold that wrapped around his battered soul. Something to push back the darkness that held onto him. A tiny scrap of the life he had hundreds of years ago left behind. He could just barely recall what that felt like, but it was less painful to think of those days. Anger could lessen the chill of his misery, but it could not burn it away entirely. He needed more, but it was long out of his reach.

He turned and walked across the floor towards the doorway under the third, smaller balcony that was opposite the windows. This room was haunted in its own way, just as the rest of the castle was, and he needed to get away from its ghosts and the memories they tried to invoke in him. Still though, as he reached the ragged red carpet that led up to the door, something made him pause and turn around.

The bright moonlight shone down onto the floor in front of him, and he stared at them as an old, forgotten memory rose up from the depths of his mind.

 _Dance with me, Gabriel._

 _Now? It is too late._

 _The moon is enough light. Come, dance with me under the stars._

A small smile appeared on his lips as he recalled that night. A full moon had provided its silvery light as he had danced his wife across the gravel drive that led up to their cottage. He remembered her smile, the way the light reflected in her dark eyes, the feel of her hand in his, and the warmth of her body close to him. He held up his hands as he did that night, his right hand on her waist, his left hand up and holding onto hers, and then he took one step forward, followed by one to the side.

 _One, two, three._

He sighed as he moved across the floor, slowly twirling himself and his invisible partner around like he had with Marie centuries ago. He moved through the moonlight, and he thought he could feel Marie in front of him, stepping with him, her left hand on his shoulder, her right holding onto his. She looked as beautiful as the day he had last seen her alive, and the moonbeams seemed to take her shape as he moved around and through them. Like he had with the imaginary dancers earlier, he went to close his eyes and look away, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. She was here, even if she was only a figment of his lonely imagination.

"My love." she said, and her voice was faint and distant, but the sound of it made his frozen heart twist all the same.

"Marie." he whispered as he slowly twirled her across the floor. The moonlight seemed to trail after her, clinging to the hem of her skirt and sleeves, and she glowed faintly with a light of her own.

"Why now?" he asked as they moved in perfect step with each other, like they once had long ago.

 _One, two, three._

"Why do I torment myself like this?" he whispered. She smiled a soft smile at him and didn't answer. They glided across the floor, dancing in and out of the moonlight, and she stepped closer to him so she could rest her hand against his chest. He felt his breath hitch as warmth touched skin that was always cold, and his feet kept moving of their own will, otherwise he would have stopped where they were. Why did he do this to himself?

Still, he would try to enjoy it while it lasted, so he danced across the ballroom with the image of his wife. The stars wheeled overhead as he led, and she followed without a misstep, and for just a moment, the chill that wound around his heart and kept his soul bound seemed to fade. He smiled at Marie, and she raised her head and returned it. There was no music, but it wasn't needed. It was just them and the otherwise empty room around them, and that was good enough.

They moved across the floor as one until the moonlight began to fade and the sounds of birds fell upon his ears. Marie reached up to kiss him softly on the lips, and the kiss left his face feeling warm and flushed for the first time in countless years. They moved across the floor as the silver light faded from the windows, and as it went, Marie began to fade with it.

"No," Dracul begged quietly, "don't go. Stay with me."

Marie gave him a sad smile, and then she stepped close to him and pressed herself against him. They didn't miss a step as she began to fade from sight, and he let of of her hand and wrapped his arms around her. He laid his cheek atop her head and closed his eyes, not wanting to see her disappear.

"Soon, my love." she whispered in his ear, and when he opened his eyes, he was only holding empty air and was once again by himself in the deserted ballroom. He stared at where she had been as he slowly lowered his arms and felt her warmth fade, leaving him cold, desolate, and alone.

 _One, two, three..._


End file.
